Huntington City discusses traffic light

A proposed stop light at the corner of Main Street (Highway 10) and Canyon Road (Highway 31) by the Utah Department of Transportation drew several local businessmen to the February meeting of the Huntington City Council. Led by Kent Wilson and Bevan Wilson of BK's Stop and Shop, they complained that their business would decline and that the noise would increase if the stop light actually went in.

Ignoring the traffic studies done by UDOT and any safety issues that the stop light would address, the businessmen thought it is not necessary for the town and that nobody wants it. They insisted that the city could kill any such proposal if they wanted to.

Mayor Hilary Gordon explained that although the city started the conversation on having a stop light in Huntington, the current location proposed by UDOT is not where the city would want it to be installed.

The city is in favor, and has been all along, of having a light at the corner of Main Street and 100 North, the location of Huntington Elementary and the post office. It sounds like the proposal actually started under the former city mayor.

The corner in question was the site of a coal spill accident recently and the local trucking company is in favor of having the light installed. UDOT will probably conduct at least one more survey before the final decision is made.

Councilperson Julie Jones led a discussion on a piece of ground the city owns that crisscrosses four property owners lots in the block sided by 400 West and 100 South. The city is not sure why they own that particular piece of property other than a drainage ditch is there and the water conservancy district has a right-of-way across the property. The city is considering who would be best to own the property involved.

The City is looking for funding to continue the curb and gutter and sidewalk along Main Street from the river to 400 East. This would connect into a trail being installed through the efforts of the county from the Huntington Lake to the city. The city also has a trail going in on the north side of the road from that same corner back to the complex. The city is looking at having a good trail system surrounding the city for the many citizens that walk every day.

New Councilperson Laneea Cowley remarked that the last few storms have put the Huntington Canyon drainage at over 90 percent of normal and that the year should be decent and that no restrictions should be in place. City residents are encouraged to be wise with their water usage though so that the reservoirs can stay as full as possible.